London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Oct 26, 2025

Roe v Wade: US women divided on leaked abortion ruling

Roe v Wade: US women divided on leaked abortion ruling

The shockwaves from the leaked Supreme Court draft ruling are reverberating across the US - in both anti-abortion and pro-choice circles.

Since Roe v Wade legalised abortion nationwide in 1973, many women have fought tirelessly to overturn it, believing the life of an unborn child begins at conception.

Others have clung to the hope that America's highest court might uphold the almost fifty-year-old ruling that allows a woman the right to choose.

We asked six women - three from each side of this debate - how they felt after reading the draft majority opinion that suggests the conservative-leaning court is poised to overturn the national right to an abortion (the court has launched an investigation into the leak).


My first reaction to the leaked document was shock that the Supreme Court appears to be overturning Roe v Wade. As a pro-life conservative, I am used to watching the American political spectrum continuously shift farther away from my values, so I was cautiously optimistic about this apparent progress.

However, I did immediately consider the likelihood of Congress reversing this decision by pushing legislation, or states reacting by passing extreme laws in support of things like late-term abortions.

If Roe v Wade is officially overturned I will have two reactions. First, I would be pleased and grateful at the Supreme Court making a decision that upholds the law and protects the sanctity of life.

Second, I would be relieved that the leak of this document did not successfully pressure the court to change its decision.

That is a direct attack on the Supreme Court's credibility and impartiality. I am worried to see the Court's process infiltrated by rogue political agendas.


Personally, I don't believe in abortion, but I think people should have a right to choose. Women should have autonomy over their own bodies, and I thought that legislating abortion was relegated to the past. The people who want to legislate abortion and regulate the matter say that they are pro-life. But they are only talking about the life of the baby before it's born, and not about the life of the baby after it's born. The same people who want to regulate abortion want to defund schools. Here in Missouri, our schools are failing. If you want to be pro-life, then you need to look at life after a child is born.


Even if the decision comes down officially that Roe v Wade is overturned, there will still be people with unexpected pregnancies.

Whether abortion is legal or illegal, there are going to be a lot of other women who, if they know that help and support are available, will happily choose life. My mission with the San Antonio Coalition for Life has always been to talk to people with an unexpected pregnancy. Our job is to make sure that we can direct them and help them by giving them the resources they need.

Our job doesn't change whether abortion is legal or illegal.

We are always going to be here whether it is a life that is not quite six weeks or whether it is a life that is 13 weeks or whether it's a life at conception. Our job is to protect all innocent human life.


Growing up in a Catholic family, I thought abortion was wrong and that it was murder.

But as an adult, I support a woman's right to have one - 100%. Abortion is healthcare. It's a personal decision about a woman's own body.

What's happening now shows that every presidential election is the most important one in a person's life because of the Supreme Court nominations.

When President Trump was elected, he was able to get his [three] nominations on the court. So, there are consequences for elections. And this outcome is horrifying to me.


Roe v Wade being overturned will be a wonderful landmark step for the pro-life movement and defending the rights of the unborn across the country. But it's just a step - it is not the end. I believe that our end goal should be to make abortion unthinkable in this country to make sure that every pregnant mother has the resources that she needs to raise her child.

I am extremely happy at the prospect that Roe v Wade could be overturned. I think it is a horrible case and a wrongly decided unconstitutional case. And I think it is right that the court should overturn it.

However, I was disturbed with how we found out, in the form of a leaked opinion. I'm worried for the integrity of the Supreme Court in the light of this.


I think black women have been making prescient warnings that this could happen for years. People thought this issue had been decided, but threats began with the dismantling of voting rights more than a decade ago. What it represents is not just an attack on abortion but an attack on democracy. Women make up 50% of the country, but that's not reflected in Congress or the Senate, or in the Supreme Court. I'm a constitutional law professor. In the draft opinion, Justice Alito calls the history of abortion irrelevant. But that history matters to indigenous women. That history matters to black women who fought for control over their bodies, and for women who fought for the right to vote.

I think we're staring in the face of a nation that hasn't realised equality for gender and sex - and that's not debatable.

Comments

Frank N Buzzanca 3 year ago
How can you say that US women are divided when nearly 80% believe a woman has a right to choose.? I agree with what Bill Clinton said “ abortion should be safe, legal and rare”.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
China and Russia Deploy Seductive Espionage Networks to Infiltrate U.S. Tech Sector
Apple’s ‘iPhone Air’ Collapses After One Month — Another Major Misstep for the Tech Giant
Graham Potter Begins New Chapter as Sweden Head Coach on Short-Term Deal
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa Alleges Poison Plot via Chocolate and Jam
Lakestar to Halt External Fundraising as Investor in Revolut and Spotify
U.S. Innovation Ranking Under Scrutiny as China Leads Output Outputs but Ranks 10th
Three Men Arrested in London on Suspicion of Spying for Russia
Porsche Reverses EV Strategy as New CEO Bets on Petrol and Hybrids
Singapore’s Prime Minister Warns of ‘Messy’ Transition to Post-American Global Order
Andreessen Horowitz Sets Sights on Ten-Billion-Dollar Fund for Tech Surge
US Administration Under President Donald Trump Reportedly Lifts Ban on Ukraine’s Use of Storm Shadow Missiles Against Russia
‘Frightening’ First Night in Prison for Sarkozy: Inmates Riot and Shout ‘Little Nicolas’
White House Announces No Imminent Summit Between Trump and Putin
US and Qatar Warn EU of Trade and Energy Risks from Tough Climate Regulation
Apple Challenges EU Digital Markets Act Crackdown in Landmark Court Battle
Nicolas Sarkozy begins five-year prison term at La Santé in Paris
Japan stocks surge to record as Sanae Takaichi becomes Prime Minister
This Is How the 'Heist of the Century' Was Carried Out at the Louvre in Seven Minutes: France Humiliated as Crown with 2,000 Diamonds Vanishes
China Warns UK of ‘Consequences’ After Delay to London Embassy Approval
France’s Wealthy Shift Billions to Luxembourg and Switzerland Amid Tax and Political Turmoil
"Sniper Position": Observation Post Targeting 'Air Force One' Found Before Trump’s Arrival in Florida
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
×